Saddle nut and coupling



Sept. l, 1953 M. c. SMITH ET A1. 2,650,837

SADDLE NUT AND CDUPLING Filed ocx. 4, 195o' INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 1, 1953l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SADDLE NUT AND COUPLING Application October- 4, 1950, Serial No. 188,414

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a saddle nut and a coupling utilizing such a nut. The invention finds its primary utility in the mounting of water meters and the like, and it has been illustrated, and will be described, in that environment, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be used in other, analogous situations, as well.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a novel form of coupling nut, adapted to be sleeved on a conduit and embodying a saddle so proportioned and arranged as to support a threaded element to be coupled to such conduit, before engagement of the threads of said nut with such threaded element. Further objects of the invention will appear as the description Proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, our invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated,

Fig. l is a more or less diagrammatic view showing a conventional water meter located in a meter box, and mounted upon a meter setter equipped with nuts constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation, drawn to a larger scale, of a nut constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through such a nut, shown in assembled relation with a conduit, and supporting a meter spud before association of a sealing washer therewith;

Fig. e is a similar view, showing the manner in which such a washer may be introduced, and will be sustained, in such an assembly, before the nut threads are engaged with the Spud threads; and

Fig, 5 is a similar view showing the relation of the parts as the nut enters threaded engagement with the spud.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that we have shown a conventional water meter It, having inlet and outlet spuds II, I I, disposed in a meter box I2, wherein it is supported, upon a meter setter, indicated generally by the reference numeral I3, in series connection between water supply pipes Il! and I5. The meter setter I3 comprises conduits I6 and I1 each of which carries, at one end, a coupling nut for connection to one of the meter spuds I I, I I.

As is shown in some detail in Figs. 3-5, each conduit I6 and l'I will be provided with a terminal, radially-outwardly-extending flange i8. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, `a valve fitting 28 is connected to form a part of conduit I6, and one arm of said tting will be provided With a flange functionally equivalent to the flange I8. The conduit (or said arm) will be generally cylindrical, and our novel coupling nut, indicated generally by the reference numeral I9, will be sleeved on each such conduit behind said flange. As shown, said nut comprises a body 20 formed with an axial bore therethrough, the major portion of the length of said bore being provided with an internal thread 2 I.

The crest of the thread 2l has a diameter slightly greater than that of the flange I8, so that the threaded portion of the bore may move freely past said flange; but at its rear end, the bore is reduced in diameter to provide stop means 22, which may or may not be peripherally continuous, but which extends radially inwardly beyond the diameter of said ilange I8 to cooperate with said flange to limit forward movement of said nut relative to said flange.

In accordance with conventional practice, the extremity of each spud I I is formed with an eX- ternal thread 23 for engagement with the thread 2| of the associated nut. At its forward end, each nut I9 is provided with an axially-forwardly projecting lip 24 formed to provide a partcylindrical saddle surface 25 flush with the base of the thread 2| and having 'a peripheral extent of or less. Preferably, we provide stop means 2l on the conduit Il so spaced from the flange I8 that, when the nut stop means 22 engages the conduit stop means 2l, the front end of the nut body 20 will be substantially in the plane of the flanged end of the conduit l1, and the lip 24 will extend substantially therebeyond, thus disposing the surface 25 to receive and support the meter spud II.

The conduits I5 and I'I are relatively reslliently flexible, and, according to conventional practice, their facing, flanged ends are normally spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the distance between the oppositely facing ends of the spuds II, II of a standard meter l0. The nuts I9, I9 being backed into their positions of full retraction, as suggested in Fig. 3, and being turned to locate the lips 24, 24 in their lowermost positions, a meter is lowered into the box I2 and its spuds are seated on the projecting saddle surfaces 25. Here, the meter will be supported in the manner suggested in Fig. 3. Now, a washer 26 can be dropped into the space between the flange I8 of conduit I 1, for instance, and the adjacent end of 3 the associated spud Il. Now, the nut I9 can be shifted toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 4, to engage the thread 2| with the thread 23, during which operation, the weight of the meter is sustained, and the Washer 26 is held in proper alignment, by the lip 24. Since the surface 25 is ush with the base of the thread 23, the spud will be supportedf inproper alignment for engagement of the threads 2| and 23, substantially without attention from the operator. As is clearly suggested in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the distal termi-` nus of the thread 2 I is preferably so related tothe saddle or lip 24 and to the distal terminus of the thread 23, that, when the saddle 24 is initslower-Y most position and the nut 22 is movedl into end-4 wise engagement with the spud l If, the two threads will be in phase by which we mean; that they will interengage immediately when turning movement of the nut is started.

When the parts have attained the relative positions: of, Fig. 5, asimilar washermay be intro-l duced between the other` conduit and the other meter'spud, and 'the` other nut i9 may-be engaged with such other meter Spud. Thereafter, the two nutswill be turned up, substantially equally, on their-respective'spuds, to engage their respective stop means 22 with the respective ange means and to clamp the respectivefwashers 26 sealingly in place. The lips 24, of course, act to sustain the weight, of the meter throughout the setting thereof, thereby materially facilitating that operation.

We claim as our invention:

1-. In combination, ay generally-cylindrical conduit having al radially-outwardly-extending flange at one end thereof, a coupling nut sleeved onsaid conduit and comprising a body formed withan axial bore therethrough, said bore being for-med with an internal thread whose crest diameterslightly exceeds the diameter of said ange, stop means at the rear end ofv said body projecting radially inwardly beyond the crest of said thread for cooperation with said iiange to limit forward movement of saidA nut relative to said conduit, a single lip projecting axially from the-forward end of said body and formed to provide a. part-cylindrical saddle surface substantially ush with the base of said thread, said lip having a peripheral extent not exceedingr 180, and stop meansy on said. conduit spaced rearwardly from said fia-nge a distancesubstantially equal to the axial length of said. nut body, said conduit stop meanscooperating with said nut stop means tol limit retraction of said nut to a position in which said lip projects substantially beyond the flanged end of said conduit.

2. In combination with a pair of spaced pipe ends arranged substantially on a common horizontal axis, each provided at its extremity facing the other with a radially-outwardly-extending ange, of a coupling nut sleeved on each of said pipe ends for rotation about said axis, each such nut comprising a body formed with an axial bore therethrough, each said bore being formed with an internal thread whose crest diameter Slightly exceeds the diameter of the ange on the associated pipe end, stop means at that end of: each body remote from the other nut and' projectingl radially inwardly beyond the crest of said thread for cooperation with the flange on theassociated pipe end to limit movement of said nut relative to its associated pipe end toward the other pipe end, a single lip on each nut body projecting, from that end of Said body nearer said other nut, towardv said other nut, each such lip being formed to provide a partcylindrical saddle surface substantially flush with the base of the thread of said nut, each lip having a peripheral extent not exceeding 180, andl aA member formed with oppositely-projectingv substantially aligned, externally-threaded end portions, said end portions being proportioned and designed to be supported respectively upon the saddle surfaces of said respective nut lips. withV said member spanning the space between` said nut lips, the internal threads of said nuts being cooperatively engageable with the external threads of said member end portions, respectively, and the nut threads being in phase' with said member end threads, respectively, when said lips are substantially in their lowermost positions of rotary adjustment relative to said pipe ends.

MARSDEN C. SMITH. OTIS G. ELY.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 454,690 Westaway June 23, 1891 974,651 Ford Nov. 1, 1910 1,154,944 Tilly Sept. 28, 1915 1,249,435. Lofton Dec. 11, 1917 1,310,400 MCNuttv July 15, 1919 1,345,124 Calhoun June 29, 1920 2,165,626 Ford July 11, 1939 

